Game on, 2017. Game on

Hey all,

There is something about a new year that brings me a sense of renewal. A chance to start again, an opportunity to prepare your wish list and execute your many goals and ambitions. You look at the future like a beacon of hope and you feel able to look your fears in the eye and say “game on!”

For me, I am a self-confessed bullet journaller. If you have never heard of bullet journaling, well you are in for a treat. It’s a totally custom Aizawl every (and totally forgiving) organization system that adapts to your needs. It’s modular by design and compromised of interchangeable methods that help you quickly capture and organizes information. It’s my to-do lists, sketchbook, notebook, and diary. It’s a way I organize my life and my thoughts. I log my events next to my ideas and mixed within my to do list. Every event, no matter how personal or emotionally taxing it is, is logging as objective and as brief as possible. Nothing bears more or less weight than another item. This is how I work. I never run out of room on a page and I never have to carry a whole bag full of lists and loose bits of paper again.

So today, I spent a few hours preparing my bulletin journal for the next year and month. I have spent time making my goals for the year and making a tracker for my projects – like my project 365 that I am stating. Also, I have reviewed my old tasks and migrated items. It may seem like a lot of effort to have to rewrite items over and over again but that’s the purpose of it. It’s intentional. This process makes me pause and consider each item. If an entry isn’t even worth the effort to rewrite it then it’s probably not that important. It increases my productivity and allows me to rid my mind of tasks that are mundane. It helps to keep my focus against all the noise in my mind and this world produces.

For anyone wishing to know my tools of the trade:

Leuchtturm 1917 notebook (dotted)– While worth the money. It has 3 bookmarks. The pages fit a whole month numbered 1 -31. Instructions and tips and hints at the back of the book. Pre-prepared pages ready for you such as index and codes. Pages are numbered and it has 240 pages. Enough to last you ages. And a lovely by in the back to hold documents etc. Leather bound with an elastic to hold it shut.

Derwent 2302206 Graphik Line Maker Drawing Pens – Great pens for this journal. They are high quality and last forever. They are versatile and do not leak on me. The pens thick, opaque ink lays down rich, strong tones so it is suitable for bold line drawings. The Graphik line maker pens come in a range of nib sizes from 0.05 to 0.8 so allowing for plenty of variation in my work. Gives me a professional finish that I love.

I was asked by someone recently why I do it, why spend my time organizing and organizing my journal. My answer was simply… because I want time. When you read about the things people say they most regret about life, it normally revolves around the theme of wanting more time. I want to spend my time focusing on what I want in life instead of worrying about the small stuff that really doesn’t matter. I want to identify what’s important to me and do those things. I want to get rid of what I don’t need and live more purposefully.

2017 is all about balanced for me. Balancing my work life and home life better. Balancing my responsibilities with my desires. Balancing myself. Bullet journaling helps me to balance. It gives me my focus without the constraints of space or time. It’s my analog of my head and it’s a beautiful chaos that I make sense of. It keeps me hopeful and focused and it tracks my growth.

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Author: Ivy iris

This is my story of finding my ikigai.
Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ee-ki-ɡU]) is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being".
According to the Japanese, everyone has a hidden ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is regarded as very important, since it is believed that discovery of one’s ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life.
View all posts by Ivy iris

That would be wonderful! Maybe we could even do a blogging collab together some time to do with it. I absolutely love the look of your bullet journal! I too am quite into the whole thing as well as am apart of the studyblr community online (definitely check it out on tumblr!) xx